22

Jun

BMetro Comment: Drug peddlers should be punished heavily

THE spectre of a zombie generation looms large as drugs threaten to wreak havoc in our society, with indications that potent drugs were being transmitted through our borders and being abused in the country. Of course, we have experienced the abuse among the young and old of less potent drugs, with many among this group having escaped the attention of law enforcement.

This is not to say that their behaviour should be condoned.A� However, the emergence of drugs such as nyaope, crack cocaine and heroin in the local market with such frequency as recent arrests seem to suggest must be quite worrying.

We are aware that drug lords follow hard currency and the multi-currency system in use in the country has attracted all sorts of illicit investors who seek to profit off our peoplea��s addictions.

We believe policymakers are alive to the dangers posed to the nation by the growth of such an industry.

The trade in drugs should never be allowed to take root in this country and those caught on the wrong side of the law should be punished heavily to deter like-minded individuals.

It is our view that the Government should be seized with such issues before it is too late since we see drug addicts grow by the day in our streets, and we understand that the abuse has contributed to the growth in the number of mental patients, mostly among the young.

It would appear there is no recognised structure of dealing with issues of addiction, where the victims could be referred to for rehabilitation and re-integration into society. Apart from putting undue pressure on the health budget, the abuse of drugs also leads to violence, broken homes and blights the future of many promising young people that start off experimenting with so-called party drugs and find themselves in deep addiction within a short space of time.

While social media has reduced the world into a global village, this new village does not have filters to shield the young and impressionable within our population, hence unmonitored use of social media by the young has exposed many to drug networks that silently but effectively penetrate many homes.

By the time family notices the erratic behaviour of their brother, sister, mother or father, so much damage would have been done.

Many people battle with all forms of addictions silently with no one to turn to, and without the institutional framework that could shepherd them back to normal life.

It all starts with drug-induced juvenile delinquency as reported in these pages recently, where pupils abuse drugs within school premises and then go on the rampage.

Let us nip the vice in the bud and ensure the next generation lives instead of slipping into the drug abyss. triam hctz 75 50 mg.